Sanding device for overhead cranes



June 27, 1939. w UNTE'RN SANDING DEVICE FOR OVERHEAD CRANES Filed Oct.23, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Zjy I) J /7 0 25 3 2 H G l 26 9i I 3 L L I I I*3 v ifigi I as 7 Fig.2

INVENTOR. WILLIAM A. LINTERN BY Q ATTORNEY.

June 27, 1939. w, A. LINTERN SANDING DEVICE FOR OVERHEAD CRANES 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 25, 1937 INVENTOR. WILLIAM A. LINTERN\ Fig.5

ATTORNEY.

Patented June 27, 1939 SANDING DEVICE FOR OVERHEAD CRANES William A.Lintern, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The Lintern Corporation,Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 23, 1937,Serial No. 170,615

3 Claims. (Cl. 291-46) This invention relates to sanders of the generalcharacter described in the copending application of John B. Lintern,Serial No. 108,439, filed October 30, 1936, and in United States LettersPatent No. 1,352,205, issued to William Lintern on September 7, 1920.The present invention is particularly concerned with sanding devices foroverhead cranes and the like for use in steel mills and other industrialplants. In steel mills and industrial plants using overhead cranes, thecustomary practice is to operate the cranes on tracks supportedconsiderably above the working level of the work site. Considerabledifficulty has been encountered in sanding the rails for such cranes dueto the fact that the sand tends to pile up on the rails to such a depththat it falls from the edges of the rails and also is blown therefrom bywind and drafts. Such sand is very damaging to machinery therebeneath,and further, if it falls on the surface of the newly finished steelsheets and articles, tends to scratch and damage the surfaces thereof.

It is one of the principal objects of the present invention to provide asanding device for overhead, rail operated cranes with means forapplying the sand discharged therefrom in such relation to the rails andwheels of the crane that the sand is utilized most efficiently and isnot displaced from the rail.

A more specific object is to apply the sand on the rail ball close tothe wheel of the crane and in a relatively narrow pile extending alongthe upper surface of the rail ball and of such height and so spaced fromthe lateral edges of the rail ball that the normal angle of slip of thesand will not cause it to fall off from the edges of the rail ball.

Another object is to provide a means for limiting the amount of sanddeposited at any point on the rail when the sanding device isinadvertently operated while the crane is stationary, thus preventing anexcessive accumulation of sand with consequent danger of the sandtumbling off the sides of the rail.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingspecification, wherein reference is made to the drawings, in which Fig.1 is a fragmentary side elevation of an overhead crane truck and thesupporting rail with the sanding device of the presentinventioninstalled on the truck;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary end elevation of the sanding device,part thereof being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the discharge nozzle of thesanding device, showing its relation to the truck wheel and supportingrail, and is taken on a plane indicated by the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View of the discharge nozzle taken on a planeindicated by the line 44 in Fig. 3 and part of the rail being shown in.connection therewith; and

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan View of the discharge end of the dischargenozzle illustrated in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, the crane includes a rail supported truck I,having wheels 2 operable on rails 3. Mounted on the truck I is a sandhopper Ill which has a removable top cover I I for permitting filling ofthe hopper with sand. The bottom wall 12 of the hopper I is providedwith an opening l3 through which sand may pass into a suitable header Mwhich is secured to thehopper l0.

Mounted within the hopper I0 is a solenoid actuated control valve, thesolenoid coil thereof being enclosed in a suitable casing I and beingrendered operative selectively to open the valve from a suitable manualelectric switch, not shown. The valve in turn is moved to a closedposition by a suitable return spring I6. The valve includes a head i!which cooperates with an upwardly flaring discharge throat l8 which iscoaxial with the opening I3. The header I 4 and the throat l8 areprovided with annular flanges l9 and 20, respectively, by which theheader and throat are securely clamped to the hopper, preferably bysuitable screws 2| which extend through apertures in the flanges I9 andand engage threaded apertures in a plate 22 within. the hopper.

One sanding device is provided for each wheel and the hoppers arepreferably arranged directly over the associated wheels. Depending fromeach hopper and curving slightly to clear and follow closely around theassociated wheel is a discharge conduit 25. To the lower end of theconduit 25 is connected a discharge nozzle 26.

The discharge nozzle 26 is comprised of resilient rubber and isreceivable over the lower end of the conduit 25 so as to form a tightseal therewith. The lower portion of the nozzle 26 is disposed at anangle to the remainder thereof so as to be positioned with its axissubstantially upright. The walls of the lower portion of the nozzle 26are thickened so as to provide a restricted passage 21 which iselongated slightly fore and aft of the associated truck, that is, in adirection parallel to the rail 3. The walls of the bottom end portion ofthe nozzle 26 are of less thickness than along the portion defining thepassage 21 so as to provide at the discharge end an inverted cup portion28 which is of greater cross sectional area in a plane parallel to therail than the passage 21'.

The bottom end of the inverted cup portion 28 terminates in slightlyspaced relation to the upper surface of the rail, for instance, aboutone quarter of an inch thereabove. Further, the cavity in the cupportion 28 is of less width than the ball of the rail, and in fact, ofsufiiciently less width so that sand discharged within the limits of thecup and to the height at which the bottom of the cup is disposed abovethe rail assumes an angle of rest such that the sand does not fall offof the lateral edges of the ball of the rail.

Several advantages are obtained by the construction above described. Forexample, in normal operation, the sand discharged through the passage 27does not touch the side walls of the cup, but forms a relatively narrowpile of sand disposed at the transverse mid-portion of the top surfaceof the rail ball and spaced from the lateral edges of the rail ball. If,however, the sanding device is inadvertently left operating when thetruck is stopped, the sand continues to flow and this flow may continueuntil the conduit 25, passage 21 and cup portion 28 are completelyfilled with sand. However, the bottom of the cup portion 28 is soarranged with respect to the top of the rail ball that sufficient sandcannot pass onto the rail to pile up and fall over the edges thereofeven when the passage 2? and cup portion 28 are full of sand. If, inthis condition, the truck is moved, the bottom of the cup portion 28levels off the pile of sand extending thereinto and distributes the sandwhich has accumulated in the conduit 25, passage 21, and cup portion 28as a pile of uniform height or depth and width, substantially the shapeshown in Fig. 3. This action continues until all of the sand accumulatedin the conduit 25 and nozzle 26 has been uniformly distributed along therail.

The sand is discharged so closely in advance of the wheel 2 of thetruck, as shown in Fig. 1, that it is engaged almost immediately by thewheel and retained on the rail between the flanges 30 of the wheel, asillustrated in Fig. 3. One sanding device is preferably provided foreach wheel, and the devices are so operated that those relatively inadvance of the wheels at any time in a particular direction in which thetruck is operating discharge sand, whereas those in the relativelytrailing position with respect to the wheels are stopped. Thus all ofthe sand discharged is prevented from piling up and falling off of therail at the lateral edges thereof and almost immediately upon dischargeis engaged by the associated Wheels and thus promptly and efficientlyutilized.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a rail operated vehicle having a truck and wheels arranged tooperate on rails, a sanding device carried on the vehicle and having aconduit leading to a point closely in advance of the wheel, a dischargenozzle on the conduit and in the form of a resilient rubber sleeve, saidnozzle having a portion arranged in substantially upright position, thewalls of said upright portion being thickened inwardly between the endsof the portion and defining a longitudinal passage in said portion andelongated longitudinally of the rail, the bottom of the nozzle havingwalls of less thickness than the intermediate portion and defining aninverted cup portion with a cavity of less width than the width of theball of the rail, the bottom edge of said cup portion terminating in asingle plane which extends substantially parallel to the top plane ofthe rail and spaced sufiiciently closely to the upper surface of therail so that sand discharged through the cup portion will assume anangle of rest limiting the pile within the lateral limits of the topsurface of the rail.

2. A discharge nozzle for a sanding device for a rail operated vehiclehaving a conduit for supplying sand to the nozzle and comprising arubber sleeve arranged to embrace the discharge end of the conduit andhaving a passage of substantially the same size as the conduit, andhaving a portion arranged substantially upright and having therein apassage elongated in a direction lengthwise of the rail with which thenozzle is to cooperate, and of less cross section than the firstpassage, an inverted cup portion at the bottom of the nozzle of lesswidth than the width of the ball of the rail and having a cavity open atthe bottom which is elongated in cross section longitudinally of therail.

3. In a combination including an overhead rail, a hoist having a wheelarranged to run on the rail, a sander carried on the hoist with meansfor supplying sand and a conduit and nozzle to discharge such sanddownwardly onto the top face of the rail at a point closely in advanceof the wheel; the arrangement of a nozzle device having an outlet in theform of a downwardly facing cup which is materially larger in horizontalcross section internally than the sand passage of the conduit leading tothe cup, the bottom edge of the cup being continuous and substantiallyparallel to the rail face and spaced sufiiciently closely theretothroughout its peripheral extent and having its inside width laterallyof the rail sufficiently less than the width of said rail face and sorelated to the spacing aforesaid that sand discharged through the cuponto the rail will assume a natural angle of repose within laterallimits of said rail face irrespective of the height of sand in thenozzle or its conduit.

WILLIAM A. LINTERN.

